Von Hippel-Lindau syndrome (VHL) is a dominantly inherited familial cancer syndrome predisposing to a variety of malignant and benign tumors. A germline mutation of this gene is the basis of familial inheritance of VHL syndrome. The protein encoded by this gene is a component of the protein complex that includes elongin B, elongin C, and cullin-2, and possesses ubiquitin ligase E3 activity. This protein is involved in the ubiquitination and degradation of hypoxia-inducible-factor (HIF), which is a transcription factor that plays a central role in the regulation of gene expression by oxygen. RNA polymerase II subunit POLR2G/RPB7 is also reported to be a target of this protein. Alternatively spliced transcript variants encoding distinct isoforms have been observed.

HEK293T cells were transfected with the pCMV6-ENTRY control (Left lane) or pCMV6-ENTRY VHL (RC216151, Right lane) cDNA for 48 hrs and lysed. Equivalent amounts of cell lysates (5 ug per lane) were separated by SDS-PAGE and immunoblotted with anti-VHL.